The CarGurus Blog

Daily coverage of the world of cars.

first cars

The First Cars of CarGurus


by

It could be a Pink Cadillac or a ‘69 Chevy (with a 396, Fuelie heads, and a Hurst on the floor). Cars have long been associated with independence and the open road, and no car epitomizes newfound freedom quite like your first car. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone at CarGurus is a gearhead—although some certainly fit the description. Our team covers a wide range of responsibilities, from software engineering to business development, and recruiting to… well, somebody has to edit this blog, right? Simply put, if owning a garage filled with Pininfarina was a prerequisite for employment, we’d have a much harder time growing our staff.
Continue reading >>>

The War Pony: A Loyal First Car


by

We called it the War Pony.

With a name like that, you might expect something like an old muscle car, but no, this was a 1987 Ford Festiva. A red one, just like every other older Festiva. This particular car was owned by my friend Wesley, who bought it as his first. Wesley is a Navajo native and, when I knew him, routinely drove his car from his job in Seattle to his home on the Navajo reservation.

Wesley worked as a Navajo language professor at the University of Washington and had over 250,000 miles on the old War Pony. Considering his commute, that was a source of worry for me. I routinely asked him if he’d ever get rid of it in favor of something newer since he was, after all, making a college salary. He refused, because the War Pony served him well, and he had no desire to get rid of it.

I lost touch with Wesley about 10 years ago. This weekend I heard from him out of the blue, and you can guess my first question:

“Are you still driving the War Pony?”

Continue reading >>>